JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

With the rapid proliferation of mobile health (mHealth) applications in clinical practice, ensuring their usability for healthcare providers is critical to optimize workflow integration and service delivery. The mHealth App Usability Questionnaire (MAUQ) is a validated tool for assessing usability, but its applicability in Chinese healthcare settings remains untested. Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the MAUQ for interactive apps are essential to address this gap.

Objective:

This study aimed to translate the MAUQ (interactive app for health provider)into Chinese, adapt it to the Chinese healthcare context for mHealth app research and usage in the future in China.

Methods:

The study followed international guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation, including forward translation, backward translation, expert review, and pre-testing. A convenience sample of 382 healthcare providers (e.g., physicians, nurses) using mHealth apps was recruited from two hospitals in China. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were evaluated as well.

Results:

 The Chinese version of the MAUQ (MAUQ-C) retained the original 21-item structure and 3 dimensions after cultural adaptation. All items of the questionnaire were relevant, clear, or comprehensible, with content validity index values higher than 0.78. EFA identified a 3-factor model explaining 63.48% of the total variance. CFA confirmed good model fit (CMIN/DF=1.950, CFI = 0.941, RMSEA = 0.063). Cronbach’s α for the total scale was 0.919. The values of test-retest reliability were 0.881, and the values of split-half reliability were 0.726. The results indicate that the questionnaire had good stability.

Conclusions:

The MAUQ-C is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating mHealth app usability among Chinese health providers. It can serve as a critical tool to guide the development and optimization of mHealth solutions tailored to the Chinese healthcare system.